Presently, the commercial airline industry uses paper baggage tags but has plans to implement electronic baggage tags. Generally, these are tags that are attached to passenger check-in baggage (or cargo) and are used in place of conventional adhesive, paper tags containing barcodes, airport codes, and other information that are attached to passenger baggage by an airline agent at check-in. These conventional tags are then cut or torn off by the passenger at the end of the journey.
As is known in the art, barcode technology is the world's dominant track-and-trace technology. Although relatively inexpensive to print and track, barcodes require direct line-of-sight and undamaged tags in order to be scanned. According to experts in the airline industry, barcode scanners fail to accurately read 15% to 30% of barcoded baggage tags.
As a result of the drawbacks of reading barcodes in the airline industry, some airlines have started using baggage tags embedded with RFID chips. Some airports have installed an RFID system throughout the airport or select terminals. This technology provides a higher probability of reading baggage tags automatically and more accurately than paper barcode tags, but RFID tags are not more physically robust than barcode tags and both are subject to being unreadable due to damage from baggage handling and wear and tear from being in transit.
As noted, barcode-readers require line-of-sight visual scanning of the barcode. RFID technology requires 10 to 15-foot proximity for RFID equipment to read data embedded on RFID chipsets. It would be preferable to have a technology that uses technology that enables airlines and passengers to track their baggage essentially anytime and anywhere throughout the world, without the need for additional infrastructure and that is in compliance with government regulations.